Frozen french fried potato strips are typically prepared by washing, peeling and cutting into strips whole potatoes and then blanching, parfrying and freezing the strips. Heretofore, attempts have been made, without much success, to deposit on outer surfaces of such strips a relatively dry particulate media, such as starch, seasonings, flavor particulates or the like thereby to enhance the flavor and texture of the product or to create an altogether different tasting product. Such attempts have also been intended to improve the coloration of the product and to reduce its oil perception (content) when reconstituted by frying.
For example, potato strips have been dusted with a media after blanching. However, the media has not adhered well to the strips, and consequently most of the media fell off during further processing, typically during parfrying. As a subsidiary problem, the loose media contaminates the fryer.
More generally, bread crumbs have been applied commercially to food products after dipping the product in a batter to which the crumbs adhere. See, for example, Wood U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,435 and Frum U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,826. However, the heavy, batter-fried taste characteristic of such a product is not desirable for french fried potato strips and may not be desirable for other food products as well.
Aqueous coatings have also been applied to food products using well known spray, slurry and enrobing techniques. For example, Roth U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,313 shows a method of coating quick-frozen, discrete food pieces by spraying them with a sauce-like liquid in a tumbling drum. And, Mitan et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,951 shows a process in which a starch base slurry is used to dip or spray a food product to give it a protective film. However, such techniques inherently are not suitable for applying a relatively dry particulate media to the outer surface of a food product.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process for applying a relatively dry particulate media to the outer surface of a food product, particularly a french fried potato strip, such that the media is substantially retained on the product during processing and gives it an improved character.
It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide a process for applying a particulate media to the outer surface of a food product, such as a french-fried potato strip, such that the media is substantially retained on the product after processing.
A second important object of the invention to provide a process as aforesaid in which french fried potato strips processed thereby have improved characteristics.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a process as aforesaid in which potato strips processed thereby have a crisper, more palatable surface texture than prior potato strips.
A further object of invention is to provide a process as aforesaid in which potato strips processed thereby have an enhanced flavor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a process as aforesaid in which potato strips processed thereby have a lower oil perception than prior strips.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a process as aforesaid which causes minimal contamination to the fryer during parfrying or reconstitution.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the drawings and following detailed description.